Our Lives Are Full Because The Tomb Is Empty
He Is Risen! We can rejoice and worship for the empty tomb changes everything. Because the Lamb of God was slain, rose again and the tomb is now empty, we can be forgiven and free forever. If you are trusting Him, you are a new person with a new eternity in your future, and new potential, new purpose, new power, new pleasure in Him for everyday life even now. All because He lives! This is our hope: Jesus has overcome the world, is with us as we live in the world, provides all that we need in this world, and promises to come back to deliver us from this world. Rejoice! Our lives are full because the tomb is empty.
Waiting For Better Things
Wait it out. Wait and see. Wait upon the Lord. Things will break our hearts and leave us in stunned silence. But our God is sovereign, and though the sinfulness of people, the brokenness of this world and the maliciousness of Satan all rise up to seemingly stop...
It Was Finished, But It Was Not Over
Confusion. Shock. Fear. Uncertainty. Heartbreak. Silence. When they laid the breathless, lifeless body of Jesus in the tomb, it must have seemed like their own breath and life had been drained from them. Jesus. Was. Dead. And when the stone was rolled into place, it must have looked like their hopes and fate were sealed inside with the One they had pinned their hopes on and trusted their fate to. They didn’t see it coming and wished they hadn’t seen it at all. They laid Jesus there. But He would not lie there for long. They thought it was the end. But it was just the beginning. It was finished. But it was not over.
The Gruesomeness And Graciousness Of The Cross
The gruesomeness of what Jesus went through should grip us. This was going to be an ugly, horrific scene that should rightly furrow our brows, sicken our stomachs, and stab our hearts because it was our sin that caused this sacrifice to be needed. The graciousness of what Jesus went through should also grip us. This was going to be a beautiful, wonderful act of love that should make our eyes dance, make our faces smile, and make our hearts leap with joy because He was willing to do this for us. Hallelujah! No one goes to heaven except through Him. And no one would go through Him unless He went to the cross.
He Set His Face To Go To Jerusalem
Jesus knew what awaited in Jerusalem. Unimaginable torment. Unthinkable anguish. Unspeakable evil. Unwarranted brutality. Unprecedented suffering. No one would ever face anything like what Jesus set His face to go to. He would absorb the wrath of God for our sins to secure the grace of God for our salvation so we could become the people of God for all eternity. He knew the horror of what was coming, but He lovingly and unflinchingly set his face towards it, locked eyeballs with it, and did not back away, back off or back down from it. The spotless Lamb of God headed for the place of His slaughter for us.
We Aren’t Who We Used To Be
Jesus lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose victoriously from the grave. He did not live, die and rise so we could remain stuck in our sin and struggles as if He did nothing at all. He came to forgive us and free us from: bitterness, selfishness, laziness, unkindness, purposelessness, sadness, fearfulness and all ungodliness so we might walk in newness of life. Sin-defeating, life-enabling, heart-transforming, joy-securing resurrection power is ours! May we have a confidence in and dependance on the power and presence of Jesus today. We aren’t who we used to be, and we don’t have to live like we are.
The Gospel Is Not A Self-Help Plan
The gospel is not a self-help plan; it is a rescue plan. God does not ask us to fix ourselves in five simple steps, but rather to trust in the one stunning step He took in sending Jesus to fix all that is broken in us. His generosity is breathtaking, His goodness is jaw-dropping and His grace is amazing, for He treated His Son like a sinner on the cross so sinners like you and me could be treated like a son. The more we are aware of the depths of our sin, the more we will appreciate the depths of His salvation. So… let us marvel at and rejoice in this today: Jesus paid a debt He did not owe because we owed a debt we could not pay.
Things That Can Never Be Taken From Us
The world often portrays being blessed as the measure of how good we are or how good we have it. We are blessed because of what we do, what we get to do and what we get from our doing. But being blessed in the Kingdom of God is more than that. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well on the outside, but that all is well on the inside. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well in the everyday matters of life, but that all is well in what matters most. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well now, but that all will be well forever. Know this: Real blessing comes in things that can never be taken from us.
You Are Blessed Because You Are His
If you are trusting Jesus, you are blessed whether you feel like it or not. The Bible doesn’t say you possibly are blessed, probably are blessed or periodically are blessed; it says you ARE blessed. This is a continual certainty for those who follow Jesus in faith. There is… No reason to feel shame for your yesterday because you are blessed with His pardon. No reason to feel discontent with your today because you are blessed with His presence. No reason to feel afraid of your tomorrow because you are blessed with His promises. His mercy is yours. His satisfaction is yours. His kingdom is yours. All because you are His.
Real Hope In Time Of Need
You don’t have to cross your fingers. You don’t have to be cautiously optimistic. You don’t have to wonder in uncertainty. You don’t have to have a glass half full disposition. You don’t have to fear the worst. You can have a real hope in this broken world with broken people even when life doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, because you are certain it will work out for good. That’s what real hope is: a confident expectation of something good in your future. And it comes from trusting that Jesus will be with us in time of need, give to us all that we need, and one day put an end to our needs.
